The saltwater intrusion has had an adverse impact on rice farming and aquaculture in coastal areas of Vietnam’s southernmost province of Ca Mau, said provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment. A report released by the department revealed that close to 10,000 hectares of agricultural land in the province have been intruded by sea water. The department blamed such situation on the impacts of climate change and sea level rise, saying that the sea level has risen over one meter in the past decade while local sea dykes have seriously degraded. In addition, the pouring of sea water into 290,000 ha of farming land for shrimp breeding was also another reason. Ca Mau is facing a shortage of financial resources to tackle the problem, said Le Van Su, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. In 2012, the Vietnamese government approved a VND1.3 trillion ($62 million) project which aims to upgrade the dyke systems in Ca Mau and adjacent coastal provinces, however, Ca Mau received only a small part of the sum, and thus could not do the work, he said. (Vietnam News Jan 06)
